


Merry Christmas

by Sembell



Category: The X-Files RPF
Genre: Christmas, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Love, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-24
Updated: 2017-01-01
Packaged: 2018-09-11 16:47:36
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 3,621
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8998861
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sembell/pseuds/Sembell
Summary: The holidays aren't always merry





	1. December 23, 1995

**Author's Note:**

> This is a tiny series of drabbles about how Gillian and David might've experienced the Christmas holidays over the years.

**_December 23, 1995_ **

The knock on the door was insistent and ripped her out of the first minutes of sleep she had gotten in over thirty hours. She knew it’s only been minutes because her radiator needed almost half an hour to heat the trailer up before she was starting to get at least slightly comfortable, and it was still cold as fuck. Even though she’d tucked herself into three layers of blankets.

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” Gillian mumbled under a sigh and shook her head in frustration. She had a pretty good idea of who it was. Who else could it be but this annoyingly charming and attractive co-star of hers, who was driving her crazy in the last couple of days?

It couldn’t be Clyde, obviously. Because Clyde was sitting at home with the baby she was missing terribly and hadn’t seen in two, maybe even three days. And she was here. In her cold trailer, laying on a hard mattress that’s slowly but deliberately killing her back. Alone.  

Another knock on her door suddenly reminded her that she was not alone at all. She was thirty seconds away from committing a murder if this was a member of the crew again, so she put every bit of annoyance into the “Who is it?” that she called out to let them know that they’re not welcomed.

But of course it didn’t bother him at all. It never had. Not David fucking Duchovny.

“Your most famous friend,” came back brightly, and the urge to punch him in his stupid, pretty face became so overwhelming again that she had to clench her fists so hard her knuckles went white.

“What do you want? Leave me alone!”

“Can I come in?”

“No,” she stated, but wasn’t surprised at all that five seconds later, he stepped into her trailer regardless and pulled the door shut behind him. “What the fuck, David?” Gillian sat up and momentarily shut her eyes to the biting cold he’d brought with him.

“Sorry,” he apologized and shuffled closer to her bed. Blinking her eyes open again, she noticed that he changed into a pair of grey jogging trousers between the time she’d left the set and now. The white sweater he was also wearing looked so invitingly cozy and soft. The latter also applied to his hair, which was sticking out in a hundred different directions. He was so gorgeous. So annoyingly gorgeous.

In a matter of seconds, her body filled with a familiar, yet frustrating warmth she hated so much. And probably needed more than anything else to make it through these days. To simply survive.

It was a twisted, complicated world at the moment, and why exactly he was able to do that to her was a question she’s not brave enough to find the answers to. It probably didn’t help that he was so smug around her, behaving as if he belonged nowhere else but with her, and of course, once again, slipped into bed beside her without another word, pulling her freezing little body flush against his muscular, warm one and laid back down. It was the third time this week. And it was also the third time she did not complain at all.

He nuzzled his face into her neck and whispered “Merry Christmas,” so, so tenderly. His soft lips were brushing against the sensitive skin of her throat, immediately causing goosebumps to rise on her flesh. In these moments, her body felt like it was in heaven while her mind knew they were both stuck in hell. Rightly so, she thought.

She rolled her eyes and clicked her tongue. “It sucks already,” Gillian replied and shifted a little to put her arms around his waist before snuggling closer to him. He smelled fresh and musky, as if he’d just jumped out of the shower. God, how much she loved his scents. All of them. Another of these unbelievably frustrating things about this man.  

“No-ho,” David almost laughed, but quickly went serious again and quietly asked, “Does this suck?”

Inhaling deeply, she slightly shook her head. “It just sucks how good it feels.”

“Hmm,” David murmured. “It’s Christmas. You’re supposed to feel good at Christmas. Be happy, be merry. Feel loved.”

“To feel loved you’re supposed to be with your loved ones… especially at Christmas,” Gillian countered, and silence filled the room for a few moments before she added, “And not on set working your fucking, freezing ass off.”  

“Funny,” he said plainly and she was able to feel him pursing his lips against her ear.

“What’s funny?”

He shrugged. “Apparently, I’ve been a very good boy this year to deserve this.”


	2. December 24, 1998

_**December 24, 1998** _

It was the absolutely shitty, but worthy ending to an unbelievably awful, lousy year. 1998 had managed to ruin almost everything they had built and accomplished in the previous four years, and she was a fool for believing things could be any different on Christmas Eve.

Gillian was watching their argument from a few feet away, casually leaning against Mulder’s temporarily new desk with her arms crossed in front of her chest as both David and Rob gestured wildly at each other.

It might’ve looked like she was completely calm and reasonable about this unplanned, last-minute shoot because the damned episode happened to be three fucking minutes too short again. But inside, she was fuming. And, unlike him, she actually had every right to be angry as fuck.

The nerve of this guy. It was unbelievable. While she had set a new record in missing four flights in one single day, and therefore every chance to get to see her little daughter’s big, glowing eyes on Christmas Eve, let alone on Christmas morning, he only had an hour long drive back home to his pregnant wife who was waiting for him in their perfect new family nest.

She knew exactly how much she was unnerving him by silently watching him fighting for his right to go home while standing at the exact same spot he had kissed her senselessly last night. She could still feel his fingers digging into the soft flesh of her hips as he had pressed himself against her from behind.

Unfortunately though, the thought that she was making him feel at least a little bit guilty and bad with her actions wasn’t filling her with any satisfaction at all. Rather with shame.

Yes, he was a fucking egocentric. And while there didn’t seem to be much left of the humble, charming David he used to be, Gillian was still madly in love with this man. And she was probably the only one able to fully understand what he was going through. It was just so hard to support each other these days. Acting was literally the only thing they were still very good at. Besides fighting. Yeah, they had mastered fighting in the last couple of months.

She snapped out of her thoughts as she noticed that he was approaching her with quick, long strides, his jaw set tightly and his hands knotted into angry fists.

“We’re done here. You’re welcome,” he said coldly, walking right past her and straight towards the exit of the stage.

She stared after him with a blank expression on her face and gulped heavily  before finally getting into motion and following him. “You fucking fucker,” Gillian muttered, increasing her speed so she wouldn’t lose sight of him.

The heavy, steel door clanged shut behind her as Gillian marched onto the dark, nearly empty parking lot in front of the studio, but stopped abruptly as she realized that he was nowhere to be seen.

She yelped as he suddenly grabbed her arm and pulled her back, pinning her between himself and the cold, brick wall. He was towering over her like a predator, and there was a ferocity in his eyes that was both scary and arousing. And before she could even start to yell at him for behaving like the biggest douchebag, he leaned down and pressed his mouth firmly against hers, once again silencing her like no other was able to.

She groaned in frustration as her plump lips parted willingly under the expert persuasion of his demanding kiss. When it came to David, her body had a mind of its own, and was working relentlessly against her.

His tongue was soft and warm as it invaded her mouth and brushed gently against hers again and again. Damn him for being such an incredibly good kisser, she thought and whimpered as he pressed himself against her. He was already hard as a rock.

They were both panting harshly as he broke their kiss to catch his breath.

“Merry Christmas,” he whispered into the crook of her neck before she felt his warm breath against the side of her throat and then a gentle tugging sensation as he began nibbling her earlobe.

She suddenly felt like giggling and crying at the same time. “You’re a fucking asshole, David. Why can’t you, for once, be a nice, decent person again?” she asked and licked her lips while gently running her fingers through his full hair.

He looked up and tilted his head. “You don’t want me when I’m being nice to you.”

Gillian made a disgusted face and pushed at his chest. “That is the biggest bullshit I’ve ever heard in my entire life.”

“Then why is it you only let me kiss you when I’m treating you like shit?”

“You’re married, David. That’s why I’m trying to avoid it.”

“It’s just a kiss for Christmas,” he shrugged innocently and pouted his lips.

“David,” Gillian said in a warning tone and raised her eyebrow at him. “Not to mention that I’ve never let you treat me like shit, in case you’ve forgotten.”

“I haven’t. It’s why everything is so fucked up right now.”

She shook her head. “No. Everything is fucked up because you don’t know what you want.”

The bitterness in his laugh send a cold shiver down her spine. Again, they were heading straight towards dangerous territory. Too dangerous for a night like this.  

So instead of starting yet another fight with him which would ultimately lead into much worse than a little kissing, Gillian dropped her head and sighed in defeat. “Go home to your wife, David. You couldn’t get away from this place fast enough so don’t waste any more time now. She’s probably waiting for you.”

“You’re never a waste of time,” he replied quietly, and they stared at each other for a beat before she closed her eyes and shook her head.

“Merry Christmas,” she said pointedly and with a firm push at his chest, slipped away into the darkness.


	3. December 25, 2005

**_December 25, 2005_ **

The phone rang six times before he finally realized that it was his own disturbing the relaxed Christmas dinner at his in-laws house. Seeing her name on the screen almost caused David to choke on the piece of garlic bread he’d stuffed into his mouth on his way into the kitchen to answer the call.

How long hadn’t he heard from her? A year, maybe even two? She hadn’t been married the last time he saw her, but he remembered a fleeting phone-call many months ago in which she had briefly told him about her journalist-husband and her new life in London. Back then, it was more like talking to a complete stranger rather than someone he’d spent so much time with. She was his friend, but he had virtually no idea who she was anymore and what her life was like nowadays. And although he’d heard from various sources that she was going through particularly rough times during the last couple of months, David had never found the guts to actually call her and offer an open ear. An omission he was regretting deeply now.

An hour later, he found her on a parking lot near Malibu Pier, sitting on a rock in front of her car, facing the ocean. When she told him that she was in Los Angeles, all warning bells in his head had started ringing, and the sound of her voice, throaty and slurry from a few drinks, had worried him beyond words. She had tried to talk him out of it first, but he insisted he would come and get her. To make sure that she would get back home safely, which he hadn’t actually said on the phone.

As he walked closer, the first thing David noticed was how small and fragile she appeared sitting there all alone, dressed completely in black. Her hair was in an unusual dark shade, almost brownish, quite long and slightly wavy. It was as natural as it could be.

She slightly tilted her head to the side and looked up at him with hooded eyes as he sat down closely beside her, playfully bumping his upper thighs against hers so she would scoot a little to the side so both would fit on the rock.

“Merry Christmas,” he said with a sigh and looked down at a bottle of Havana Club cradled between her slender thighs.

“And a very merry Christmas to you, too,” she replied languidly, and by the way she was sounding and slightly swaying back and forth, he could tell she was drunk. Not completely blotto, but definitely getting there.

Leaning in, he placed an affectionate kiss against her temple and out of the corner of his eye, he saw her cheeks rise into a faint smile. When he withdrew, he cleared his throat and followed her gaze towards the shore, nodding appreciatively. “Nice spot. How did you get here?” he asked casually.

Turning her head to look at him, Gillian arched her brow and slowly extended her arm to point at the parked vehicle behind her. “May I introduce you to my car?!”

David snorted disapprovingly. “I meant if you drove here after you emptied half of that bottle or before?”

“Jesus, David,” she hissed at him and took a long pull from the bottle. “I may be a good drunk, but I’m not a good drunk-driver.”

“Okay,” he raised his hands defensively. “Good. However, I brought some hamburgers with me.”

“You brought me a hamburger?”

“Yeah,” he raised the paper-bag for her to see. ”I just figured that… knowing you, you probably hadn’t found the time to eat anything yet.”

“Well that’s… nicely put.” She pursed her lips and nodded thoughtfully while contemplating the bottle in her hands. “Probably wasn’t the best idea. But then again, I’ve made a lot of bad decisions lately. I’m afraid that calling you was another one of them.”

“I can assure you it wasn’t,” he said softly and handed her one of the burgers while taking the dark bottle from her hand, lifted it to his lips and took a few swigs. Cuba libre, one of her favorites.  

Gillian huffed and turned her head to look at him. “Haven’t I called you away from a nice Christmas dinner with your family?”

He swallowed and started to unwrap his food with his free hand. “Oh, that’s alright actually.” She furrowed her brows quizzically. “No, really. They were already getting sick of me.” David nudged his head towards the hamburger in her hands. “Eat.”

The tiny moan escaping her throat and the way her eyes closed in pleasure when she bit into her food did make him feel strangely, almost embarrassingly proud of himself.

He let her finish her burger in silence and passed her the bottle to take the last couple of sips out of it before he spoke again. “What happened, Gillian?”

“Nothing I should actually tell you,” she replied, and he wondered if she was aware that with that, she’d told him everything he really needed to know. Anger was immediately boiling up within him as she continued, “I uh… I realized too late that I’ve let someone treat me like shit. And also that I needed to find help to make it stop.”

“And have you? Found proper help?”

She shrugged. “I’ve found someone. But I don’t know if he can provide what I really need right now. I’m not sure anyone can but…” she pressed her lips together firmly and dropped her head.

“But?” he asked gently, cocked his head and narrowed his eyes as he saw her chin quivering.

“It’s too late. I’ve made too many wrong decisions and now I can’t have what I want anymore. What I need more than anything else. The only thing that wouldn’t destroy me in the end. I just can’t have it.”

Not sure if it was desired, but unable to stop himself from touching her any longer, David put his arm around her shoulder, and sighed in relief as her body fell against his voluntarily. Gathering her close, he buried his face into her hair as her body started to shake with quiet sobs.

“Maybe we both can’t,” he whispered, almost inaudibly.


	4. December 26, 2017

_**December 26, 2017** _

The little guy standing in his living room was an outstanding beauty. Fully lit and decorated with the cutest baubles in gold and red, he was everything she’d expected from the first Christmas tree she would ever see in David’s apartment. And most importantly, he was alive. A breathing, growing Christmas tree in a plant pot. How very Duchovny-like.

Gillian was wearing the goofiest, most adorable and satisfied smile he’d ever seen on her face when she entered the living room and saw it for the first time. The throaty, genuine giggle that resonated through his apartment was exactly what he’d hoped for when he bought and set it up. It was like music to his ears, and the sight of her throwing her head back and holding her belly in delight really did things to him. Not just years, but decades had to pass before he got a very happy, relaxed Gillian over for Christmas. It was almost like their very own little Christmas miracle after all those hard years that lay behind. Well, when she put on a leggy-display in a short, tight, black dress that perfectly clung to her curves for their private candlelight dinner at an exclusive Italian restaurant, David definitely knew he did something right this year. And the huge laughing fit this glorious choice of clothing caused on their way back home, when her belly was filled with delicious seafood, a whole plate full of pasta and, of course, semifreddo, was a moment he would cherish forever. Because who thought it would be a good idea to wear such a dress to an Italian restaurant if they wanted to still be able to breathe after?! Or get into the cab… it was truly hilarious.

Getting her out of that dress was a much easier task, and a very enjoyable one. And boy, she was everything - soft and creamy skin, full hips, firm breasts. Highly kissable. He’d never seen anything more breathtaking than Gillian standing in the light of this tiny Christmas tree, shimmering like a candle herself. She felt like wax underneath the gentle touch of his fingers, and melted into it like it was everything she needed. Like she wanted him to know he was everything she needed at that moment.

It had almost something animalistic to press himself into her from behind and gently nibbling on her neck while standing in front of the big panorama window with that wonderful view over Central Park and onto the Upper East Side. As if they had the whole city as their audience. As if they’d finally let them in.

Later that night, they cozied up in front of a crackling fire, nakedly lying under a soft, beige quilt, kissing and contemplating what they’d achieved over the years. And talking about what they wanted their future to be like. He knew that in the morning, he would bring her a pot of freshly brewed coffee and homemade French Toast with maple syrup, jelly and goat cheese in bed. After that, he would kiss her goodbye before their paths would part for the next two weeks. Hoping that she would at least think about coming back for the next Christmas holidays.

The years had left their marks on them. Had left bruises and scars on both bodies and souls before they’d found together again. Since then, every year had been a better one for them. And while David knew he would do everything in his power to keep it that way, but who really knew what obstacles a whole new year would bring? For now though, he was content with how things were. The love of his life was resting contently in his arms. This wonderful woman who made everything and everyone brighter and kinder. Who was able to bring so much joy.

“Hey,” her nose brushed against his cheek and he turned his head to look at her. Cheeks flushed from a little red wine, eyes sleepy and with a witty grin on her lips, Gillan looked truly happy. He couldn’t recall a Christmas he’d ever seen her like this. “It was a very nice day,” she whispered, cuddling closer to his chest. “Thank you.”

“You’re very welcome,” David replied tenderly. “Merry Christmas, babe,” he placed a gentle kiss against her hairline and let his fingers trace the length of her spine down to her bottom.

“I love the tree.”

“Yeah?”

“M-hm. It’s very cute. Very you,” she said appreciatively.

“And that’s what you like?” he smiled against her hair.

“No,” she shook her head and raised her arm to put her hand on the side of his face, her thumb gently stroking his cheek with her thumb. “That’s what I love.”


End file.
